Processor

Apple is reportedly in talks to buy a majority stake in Renesas SP Drivers imaging chips firm. The firm has been designing LCD display chips for Apple for some time, and Apple is prepared to pay ¥50 billion (US$483 million) to buy the 55% stake of the company currently held by Renesas Electronics Corp. According to Nikkei.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini has stepped down from his post, but not before divulging some interesting revelations in the process. As it turns out, Otellini and Intel turned down the chance to work on the original iPhone, now with some element of regret. As Otellini told The Atlantic:

It's a rumor that's been making the rounds for quite some time, going back as far as March of 2011: Apple moving production of their custom ARM-based processors from Samsung to TSMC. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has increasingly been named as a principle benefactor of Apple's unhappy relationship with rival and former frenemy (now verging on full-time enemy) Samsung. Now, According to the AFP, the Taiwanese Commercial Times is reporting that TSMC has been contracted by Apple to produce the company's A6X chip.

New tests conducted over at AnandTech reveal that Apple has chosen to underclock the A5 system-on-a-chip nestled inside the iPhone 4S to ~800MHz, just slightly slower than the iPad 2's 1GHz, but still far better than the iPhone 4's A4 SoC -- by margins as high as 73%.

Got an iPhone or iPod Touch? Then you've already got a PowerVR graphics core crunching your eye candy. This week, however, Imagination Technologies revealed that an "unnamed company" has acquired a new mega-license for their current and future tech.